Nintendo game card
| owner = | use = Nintendo DS line Nintendo 3DS line Nintendo Switch line }} A Nintendo game card (trademarked as Game Card) is a cartridge-based format used to physically distribute video games for certain Nintendo systems. The game cards resemble smaller, thinner versions of the Game Pak cartridges for previous portable gaming consoles released by Nintendo, such as the Game Boy and Game Boy Advance. The mask ROM chips are manufactured by Macronix and have an access speed of 150 ns. The cards contain flash memory, including game data, and a writable portion for saving user data for Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS titles. Nintendo DS Nintendo DS Game Card game cartridge, a Game Boy Advance game cartridge, and a Nintendo DS game cartridge. On the far right is a United States Nickel shown for scale.]] Cards for the Nintendo DS ranged from 64 megabits to 4 gigabits (8–512 MB) in capacity''Ni no Kuni'' was the first DS game to use a 4-gigabit card The cards contain an integrated flash memory and an EEPROM to save user data such as game progress or high scores. However, there are a small number of games that have no save memory such as Electroplankton. Based on an IGN blog by the developer of MechAssault: Phantom War, larger (such as 128 MB) cards have a 25% slower data transfer rate than the more common smaller (such as 64 MB) cards; however, the specific base rate was not mentioned. Nintendo DSi Game Card In 2008, the Nintendo DSi was launched. The console offered various hardware improvements and additional functions over previous Nintendo DS iterations, such as the inclusion of cameras. While many Nintendo DS titles released afterwards included features that enhanced gameplay when played on the Nintendo DSi console, most of these games retained compatibility with the original DS iterations sans enhanced features. However, a select few retail game titles were released that worked exclusively for the Nintendo DSi consoles for reasons such as requiring camera functions, and these titles have game cards with white-colored casings (all DSi-exclusive games are region locked). Examples of such game cards include Picture Perfect Hair Salon. While these white game cards can be physically inserted into original Nintendo DS consoles, their software did not function due to the missing hardware features. These DSi-exclusive game cards are fully compatible with the Nintendo 3DS family. Prior to the release of the Nintendo DSi, Nintendo encouraged developers to release DSi-exclusive games as DSiWare downloadables instead of retail game cards that would not function on older Nintendo DS consoles. Infrared support Despite all iterations of the Nintendo DS line lacking native infrared support, certain titles made use of this type of communication function using game cards with their own infrared transceivers. These game cards are generally glossier and darker than common Nintendo DS game cards, and reveal their translucency when exposed to light. Examples of such game cards include Personal Trainer: Walking, which connect to the included pedometers, [[Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver|''Pokémon HeartGold'' and SoulSilver]], which connect to the included Pokéwalker accessory, and [[Pokémon Black and White|''Pokémon Black'' and White]] and [[Pokémon Black 2 and White 2|''Pokémon Black 2'' and White 2]], which connect to other games. Although all iterations of the Nintendo 3DS family support native infrared functions, Nintendo DS games still use the infrared-enabled game cards themselves when played on a 3DS system, reserving the native infrared for Nintendo 3DS-specific software. Nintendo 3DS Game cards for the Nintendo 3DS are from 1 to 8 gigabytes in size, with 2 GB of game data at launch. They look very similar to DS Game Cards, but are incompatible and have a small tab on one side to prevent them from being inserted into a DS. However, R4 flash cartridges designed for the 3DS still incorporate the same design as the original DS game card. Newer flash cartridges for the 3DS, such as the Gateway or Sky3DS, uses the 3DS card design. Nintendo Switch The Nintendo Switch uses cartridges that are officially called Game Card. This iteration is smaller and has a larger storage capacity than its previous versions. Despite its similarities, the Switch is not compatible with DS and 3DS cards. The game cards used in the Switch are non-writable and save data is stored in the console's internal memory, unlike the DS and 3DS's game cards, which are writable and are able to store save data. "Nintendo Switch game cards are non-writable; game save data is stored in internal NAND memory." Due to their size, the Game Cards are coated with denatonium benzoate, a non-toxic, bitter-tasting agent, as a safety precaution against accidental consumption by young children. Videos of users intentionally tasting the cartridges became a meme prior to the console's launch, which originated from Jeff Gerstmann's actions on a Giant Bomb webcast. The cartridges come in a variety of capacities: 1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB, 8GB, 16 GB and 32 GB. 64 GB cartridges were planned to be introduced in the second half of 2018, but due to unspecified circumstances, Nintendo delayed the launch of this variant to 2019. References Category:Nintendo 3DS Category:Nintendo hardware Category:Nintendo Switch Category:Products introduced in 2004 Category:Video game distribution Category:Video game storage media